“Coming Home Again”
-Action:  A boy is at home because his mother has stomach cancer.  He is there cooking for his family and caring for his mother.
-Speech:  “She would mostly speak to me in Korean, and I would answer in English.”  This shows that the family is from Korean descent.
-Thought:  I think that the son regrets going to boarding school because his mom regrets sending him there and he lost those years that he could’ve spent with her.
-Physical/Description: “I was usually in the kitchen, preparing lunch or dinner, poised over the butcher block with her favorite chef’s knife in my hand and her old yellow apron slung around my neck. I’d be breathless in the sudden quiet, and, having ceased my mincing and chopping, would stare blankly at the brushed sheen of the blade.”

The author regrets his decisions to ignore his friend.  The author decides to ignore his friends invite to his wedding and other events that could have changed the way his friend lives.

The television that Tony Earley watches is a concreted object that the readers will understand.  The shows in which Earley watched were also concreted ideas.

The Earley family was just the stereotypical family before they got their new nice television set.  They were respectful of each other and participated in activities such as having family dinners and going to church.

Tony Earley used the television shows to relate and represent his actual life to the shows he watched on TV.

After the new television set was introduced to the family, they began to fall apart.  The respect for each of the family members was lost by one another.  Tony’s father left the family and moved out.

Tony can relate everything in his life to something that is on a TV show or that can be viewed on a TV.

The second child I chose was Ashley.  Ashley is from Washington, DC.  She lives with her single mother in a small apartment.  Some socioeconomic struggles that will affect her performance may be that she is not very wealthy so she does not have all of the coaches and other resources that some of the other participants have.  Another thing that might affect her is that she is African American.  As her mother stated, unfortunately many people still do not think that an African American can succeed just as well as a white person could.  She did not receive her materials that explained the spelling bee and what the possible words that could be on the list were until only two weeks before the spelling bee.  I chose Ashley because she has the attitude of “If there is a will, there is a way.”

I think that Angela will win the spelling bee.  I feel this way because she is from Mexico and none of her elders knew how to speak English until very recently.  This is a huge obstacle to overcome and I feel she will do it.

Before Michael left the farm to head back to Charlottesville, he decided to grab a few of the makings he had processed over the past day.  He was going use these items to cook for some old friends of his later that evening.

Joel did not let Michael pay for his goods because he said that the time Michael spent working on the farm was more than enough to pay for the goods.  The chicken would have cost $2.05 a pound, and the eggs were $2.20 per dozen, which are comparable prices to the Whole Food, and Joel’s are a much better quality.

On his way to Charlottesville, Michael stopped in Virginia to pick up some local produce.  Michael bought some wine that was locally grown and it was some of the best wine he has ever had.

-I wonder how much it costs to raise a chicken?

-Is everyone enjoying their fall break so far?!

Dave, Katelyn, Tucker

Just a few short blocks away from the Whole Foods in Berkeley is a public park called People’s Park.  There are about a dozen people who claim People’s Park to be their home.  They people who live in the park nurse small patches of vegetable gardens.

Another issue that Pollan goes into is the organic food.  For every acre of land that is growing organic food, that is one more acre of soil that does not have pesticides and chemicals that are being dumped into it.  This is very good for our environment and is a huge positive change that is putting the world in the right direction to go green and be 100% environmentally friendly.

I wonder if the American government will put laws on what pesticides, and how much of that pesticide can be used?

Everyone excited for fall break?!

“Food, Nutrition, and Health Overview”

The American Government is committing to an increase in the amount of money that is spent to create healthier food.  The money will also go to help control the effects of things such as unhealthy lifestyles and food borne illnesses.  The American food supply is by far the safest in the world, but there are still millions of food borne illnesses each year.

Website: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/food/food_all.html

“Dietary Intervention Shows Neuroprotection”

One can improve their health by adding a moderate amount of walnuts to their daily diet.  Adding walnuts to a healthy diet has been proven to greatly increase the performance level on task that requires basic motor and behavioral skills.  As we get older, our brains slowly undergo changes that may impair these skills.  When someone has walnuts in their daily diet, as they get older they tend to have better motor and behavioral skills than people who do not.

Website: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090331.htm

Opinionated

“Dietary Fiber: An essential part of a healthy diet”

Dietary fiber is essentially all of the parts of a plant foods that a human body can not digest normally.  These fibers pass through your system virtually unchanged.  This keeps everything clean in your digestive system and running normal.

Website: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fiber/NU00033

“General Mills takes leadership step in switching to whole grain breakfast cereals”

The company General Mills has decided to switch all of their cereal products to be whole-grain breakfast products.  These new cereals and cereal bars will be a lot more healthy for the consumer rather than the refined grains.

Website: http://www.NaturalNews.com/007572_General_Mills_whole_grain_sugar.html

Variable

“I drink diet soda everyday. Could this be harmful?”

Drinking a reasonable amount of diet soda per day will not hurt you.  A reasonable amount of soda is approximately one or two cans per day.  At this rate of consumption, there is no evidence that the chemicals in the soda will harm you.

Website: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diet-soda/AN01732

“Health Minded Consumers are Tricked into eating More Processed Sugar”

Producers of products are now calling sugar and fructose by different names so that consumers do not know the actual amount of sugar in them and they are more likely to buy the product.  They are calling sugar things like evaporated cane juice.

Website: http://www.NaturalNews.com/026425_sugar_health_food.html